# The Jheri Curl: Hair Genius or Hair Disaster?



## Aprill (May 21, 2007)

The *Jheri curl* (often incorrectly spelled *Jerry curl* and/or *Jeri Curl*) is a hairstyle that was common and popular in the African American community in the late 1970s and throughout the 80s. Invented and named for Jheri Redding, the Jheri Curl gave the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look. It was touted as a "wash and wear" style that was easier to care for than the other popular chemical treatment of the day, the relaxer.

A jheri curl was a two-part application that consisted of a softener (often called a "rearranging cream") to loosen the hair and a solution to set the curls. The rearranging cream used pungent chemicals, causing the naturally tight curls to loosen and hang. The loose hair was then set on perm rods and a chemical solution was then added to the hair to permanently curl it.

Besides the fact that it eventually went out of style, the jheri curl's decline in popularity probably occurred because of the damage it caused to the wearer's hair. Perming the hair was time and labor-intensive and expensive to upkeep. The harsh mix of chemicals required for the process caused the wearer's natural hair to become extremely brittle and dry.

To maintain the look of the jheri curl, users were required to apply activator and heavy moisturizers daily and to sleep with a plastic cap on their heads to keep the hairstyle from drying out. These products were relatively expensive (a typical bottle of activator was small, retailed anywhere from $3 to $6, and was quickly depleted.) The activator in particular had the undesirable side effect of being very greasy; this would often stain clothing and anything that came into contact with it.


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## dcole710 (May 21, 2007)

Hair disaster! What were people thinking??? Everytime I think of the Jheri curl I think of that Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America with the Soul Glo products and when the family stood up from sitting on the sofa and all you saw was the big "juice" stains on the back of the sofa!!!! I can't imagine that it was very comfortable feeling juice drip down your neck all day.

Oh and not to mention fearing for your life whenever you were near an open flame!


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## SimplyElegant (May 21, 2007)

Hair disaster definitely.


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## Duchess Ravenwaves (May 21, 2007)

Hair disaster


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## monniej (May 21, 2007)

genius because it made your hair grow like crazy! disaster because the activator ruined everything it touched.


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## EyeCandyDiva (May 21, 2007)

Hair HORROR...I remember though when all of my friends had Jherri curls...and I wanted one soooo bad....mom said yes, when she should have said NO. You had to type of Jherri curl victims...the ones who went "coming to America" Soul glow overboard....and then you had the people who just didn't care and walked around with the dried up look.


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## Makeup-aholic (May 21, 2007)

Hair disaster! thats stuff looks soo Greasy eeww.


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